Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Restoring

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

DISCIPLINE VS. JUDGMENT

Galatians 6:1
Brethren, even if a man is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness

Are there any occasions when Christians should confront each other on matters of behavior? Yes. We are required by God to confront and restore those who have clearly violated the boundaries of Scripture (Matthew 18:15, 16). But let me alert you to an important distinction in this area: Discipline is an issue of confronting observed behavior--that which you have personally witnessed (Galatians 6:1); judgment is an issue of character. We are instructed to confront others concerning sins we have observed, but we are not allowed to judge their character (Matthew 7:1; Romans 14:13). Disciplining is our responsibility; judging character is God's responsibility.

For example, imagine that you just caught your child telling a lie. "You're a liar," you say to him. That's judgment, an attack on his character. But if you say, "Son, you just told a lie," that's discipline. You're holding him accountable based on an observed behavior.

Or let's say that a Christian friend admits to you that he cheated on his income tax return. If you confront him as a thief, you are judging his character and that's not your responsibility. You can only confront him on the basis of what you see: "By cheating on your taxes, you are stealing from the government and that's wrong."

Much of what we call discipline is nothing less than character assassination. We say to our disobedient child: "You're a bad boy." We say to a failing Christian brother or sister: "You're not a good Christian." Such statements don't correct or edify; they tear down character and convey disapproval for the person as well as his problem. Your child is not a liar; he's a child of God who has told a lie. Your Christian friend is not a thief; he's a child of God who has taken something which doesn't belong to him. We must hold people accountable for their behavior, but we are never allowed to denigrate their character.

Prayer:

Forgive me, Father, for judging others. Enable me to discipline in love those I care about and for whom I am responsible.

Monday, September 29, 2008

Your Real Life

So if you're serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don't shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that's where the action is. See things from his perspective.

Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life—even though invisible to spectators—is with Christ in God. He is your life. When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you'll show up, too—the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ.

Colossians 3: 1-4 (The Message)

Ministry of Reconciliation

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

WHO'S RESPONSIBLE FOR CONVICTION

Romans 14:13
Let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this--not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother's way

I grew up with a good, moral background, and I even went to church, but I wasn't a Christian. In those days I really enjoyed beer, especially on a hot day after mowing the lawn. When I received Christ as a young man, I joined a church which preached total abstinence from alcoholic beverages. I wasn't a drunk, so I decided to scratch that rule and keep my beer.

My beer-drinking wasn't excessive, but two years later the Lord convicted me about it. With the conviction came the power to obey. So I gave it up. I'm so glad that no one laid a guilt trip on me or made an issue over my drinking an occasional beer.

Sometimes we are tempted to play the role of the Holy Spirit or the conscience in someone else's life on issues where the Scriptures are not crystal clear: "Christians don't drink or smoke"; "You should spend at least 30 minutes a day in prayer and Bible study"; "Buying lottery tickets is not good stewardship." I'm convinced that the Holy Spirit knows exactly when to bring conviction on issues of conscience. It's part of the process of sanctification which He superintends. When we attempt to play His role, we often do little more than convey criticism and rejection. Our job is to accept people and let the Holy Spirit bring conviction in His time.

God has given us the ministry of reconciliation, not condemnation. Paul wrote, "God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation" (2 Corinthians 5:19). There is a time and place to confront Christians about immoral behavior. But when we do so, it is only because we care about their relationship with God and desire to protect others.

Prayer:

Lord, teach me to confront others in love when I must and to accept others in love as You have accepted me.

Eschatology

Excerpts from Scot McKnight: The Eschatology of Politics | Out of Ur

...

Where is our hope? To be sure, I hope our country solves its international conflicts and I hope we resolve poverty and dissolve our educational problems and racism. But where does my hope turn when I think of war or poverty or education or racism? Does it focus on November 4? Does it gain its energy from thinking that if we get the right candidate elected our problems will be dissolved? If so, I submit that our eschatology has become empire-shaped, Constantinian, and political. ...

...

But, participation in the federal election dare not be seen as the lever that turns the eschatological designs God has for this world. Where is our hope? November 4 may tell us. What I hope it reveals is that:

Our hope is in God. The great South African missiologist, David Bosch, in his book Transforming Mission impressed upon many of us that the church’s mission is not in fact the “church’s” mission but God’s mission. Our calling is to participate in the missio Dei, the mission of God in this world. So, at election time we can use the season to re-align our mission with the mission of God. Therein lies our hope.

Our hope is in the gospel of God. God’s mission is gospel-shaped. Some today want to reduce gospel to what we find in 1 Corinthians 15:1-8, while others want to expand it to bigger proportions (and I’m one of the latter), we would do well at election time to re-align ourselves once again with the gospel as God’s good news for our world. Therein lies our hope.

Our hope is in the gospel of God that creates God’s people. God’s gospel-shaped mission creates a new people of God. In fact, the temptation of good Protestants to skip from Genesis 3 (the Fall) to Romans 3 (salvation) must be resisted consciously. We need to soak up how God’s gospel-shaped work always and forever creates a gospel people. The first thing God does with Abraham is to form a covenant people, Israel, and Jesus’ favorite word was “kingdom,” and Paul was a church-obsessed theologian-missionary. ...

Our hope is in the gospel of God that creates a kind of people that extends God’s gospel to the world. Chris Wright’s big book, The Mission of God, reminds us that election is missional: God creates the people of God not so the people of God can compare themselves to those who are not God’s people, but so that God’s people will become a priesthood in this world to mediate the mission of God, so that all hear the good news that God’s grace is the way forward.

...

Friday, September 26, 2008

Consider

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

OUR RELATIONSHIP TO SIN

Romans 6:11
Consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus

Even though you are dead to sin, sin's strong appeal may still cause you to struggle with feeling that you are more alive to sin than you are to Christ. But Romans 6:1-11 teaches us that what is true of the Lord Jesus Christ is true of us in terms of our relationship to sin and death. God the Father allowed His Son to "be sin" in order that all the sins of the world--past, present and future--would fall on Him (2 Corinthians 5:21). When He died on the cross, our sins were on Him. But when He rose from the grave, there was no sin on Him. When He ascended to the Father, there was no sin on Him. And today, as He sits at the Father's right hand, there is no sin on Him. Since we are seated in the heavenlies in Christ, we too have died to sin.

Christ already died to sin, and because you are in Him, you have died to sin too. Sin is still strong and appealing, but your relationship with sin has ended. I've met many Christians who are still trying to die to sin, and their lives are miserable and fruitless as a result because they are struggling to do something that has already been done. "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death" (Romans 8:2).

Romans 6:11 summarizes what we are to believe about our relationship to sin because of our position in Christ. It doesn't matter whether you feel dead to sin or not; you are to consider it so because it is so. People wrongly wonder, "What experience must I have in order for this to be true?" The only necessary experience is that of Christ on the cross, which has already happened. When we choose to believe what is true about ourselves and sin, and walk on the basis of what we believe, our right relationship with sin will work out in our experience. But as long as we put our experience before our belief, we will never fully know the freedom that Christ purchased for us on the cross.

Prayer:

Lord, teach me not always to believe what I feel about my relationship to sin, but to believe the truth that I am dead to it.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Worship

" ... I have been to many concerts of music ranging from major symphonic works to big-band jazz. I have heard world-class orchestras under world-famous conductors. I have been in the audience for some great performances that have moved me and fed me and satisfied me richly. But only two or three times in my life have I been in an audience which, the moment the conductor's baton came down the last time, leaped to its feet in electrified excitement, unable to contain its enthusiastic delight and wonder at what it had just experienced. (American readers might like to know that English audiences are very sparing with standing ovations.)

That sort of response is pretty close to genuine worship. Something like that, but more so, is the mood of Revelation 4 and 5. That is what, when we come to worship the living God, we are being invited to join in.

...

... Worship is at the very center of all Christian living. One of the main reasons that theology (trying to think straight about who God is) matters is that we are called to love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. It matters that we learn more about who God is so that we can praise him more appropriately. Perhaps one of the reasons why so much worship, in some churches at least, appears unattractive to so many people is that we have forgotten, or covered up, the truth about the one we are worshiping. But whenever we even glimpse the truth we are drawn back. Like groupies sneaking off work to see a rock star who's in town for just an hour or so, like fans waiting all night for a glimpse of a football team returning in triumph -- only more so! -- those who come to recognize the God we see in Jesus, the Lion who is also the Lamb, will long to come and worship him."

N. T. Wright, Simply Christian

Splendor of the King

Chris Tomlin "How Great Is Our God"

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Walk

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

IF YOUR FAITH IS OFF

2 Corinthians 5:7
We walk by faith, not by sight

When my son Karl was about eight years old, I introduced him to the game of golf. I gave him a little starter set of clubs and took him out to the course with me. Karl would tee up his ball and whale away at it with his mightiest swing. Usually he sprayed the ball all over the place. But since he could only hit it 60 or 70 yards at best, his direction could be off by 20 degrees and his ball would still be in the fairway.

As he grew up and got a bigger set of clubs, Karl was able to drive the ball off the tee 150 yards and farther. But if his drive was still 20 degrees off target, his ball no longer stayed in the fairway; it usually went into the rough. Accuracy is even more important for golfers who can blast a golf ball 200 to 250 yards off the tee. The same 20-degree deviation which allowed little Karl's short drive to remain in the fairway will send a longer drive soaring out of bounds.

This simple illustration pictures an important aspect of the life of faith: Your Christian walk is the direct result of what you believe about God and yourself. If your faith is off, your walk will be off. If your walk is off, you can be sure it's because your faith is off. As a new Christian, you needed some time to learn how to "hit the ball straight" in your belief system. You could be off 20 degrees in what you believed and still be on the fairway because you were still growing and had a lot to learn. But the longer you persist in a faulty belief system, the less fulfilling and productive your daily walk of faith will be. As you grow older you will find yourself stumbling through the rough or out of bounds spiritually if the course you have set for your life doesn't agree with Scripture.

For many adults, a mid-life crisis is the result of basing their concept of success and fulfillment on the world instead of on the Word of God. Tragically, many of our children and teenagers are heading for the same fall because their beliefs are not founded on Scripture. As a result, their lives are often bankrupt before they leave high school.

Prayer:

Lord, Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Teach me Your truth today that I may walk in it.

Abiding

Excerpt from beginning of "In the Beginning Was the Word" by John Piper

John 1:1-3

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

The Gospel of John is a portrait of Jesus Christ and his saving work. It focuses on the last three years of Jesus’ life—and especially on his death and resurrection. It’s purpose is clear in John 20:30-31: “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” The book is written to help people believe on Christ and have eternal life.

Written for Non-Christians—and Christians

But don’t get it in your head that the book is therefore only for unbelievers. Believers on Jesus must go on believing in Jesus in order to be saved in the end. Jesus said in John 15:6, “If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.” And in John 8:31, he said, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples.”

So when John says, “These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name,” he meant that he was writing to awaken faith in unbelievers and sustain faith in believers—and in that way lead both to eternal life. And there may be no better book in the Bible to help you keep on trusting and treasuring Christ above all.

...

What Christ Has Done

From Miscellanies, "Hosea, Gomer, and Christ's Redemptive Love"

“To redeem something is to buy it back; to save it by purchasing it. The redemption described here [Ephesians 1] is deliverance by payment of a price. In the Old Testament book of Hosea we find an incredible story that illustrates the spiritual blessing that Jesus Christ has given us.

Hosea was an Old Testament prophet, and God called this man to marry a woman of ill repute. And so Hosea married this woman named Gomer. And she was unfaithful to him. She left him. She was an adulteress and even gave herself to prostitution. Her life was so degraded by her sin that eventually she became a slave.

And in the book of Hosea the story is told of Hosea walking through the marketplace and he comes upon the place in the market where the slaves are sold, where human beings are being sold to other people because of their debt. And Hosea comes upon his wife being auctioned off as a slave. And in a picture of God’s incredible love for his people, Hosea steps forward and lays the money on the table to purchase his wife back from slavery.

This woman who was unfaithful to him, this woman who broke his heart, this woman who is an adulteress, he buys back out of slavery and brings home to be his wife! This is an incredible picture of the love and care of God for us, his people. We have disobeyed him, we have been unfaithful to him, and yet he comes searching for us and he redeems us. And this is what Jesus has done for us!”

-Joshua Harris, sermon, “God’s Blessings in Salvation,” Ephesians 1:3-14, 9/21/08, at Covenant Life Church (Gaithersburg, MD); 15:06-17:17 markers.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Sing to the Lord

"Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord:

'I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously;
horse and rider he has thrown into the sea.'
Exod. 15:1

Salvation is God's act. The only appropriate response, therefore, is to attend to this God who saves. But the way in which this attention is given is critical. So far in Exodus, response has taken the form of telling the story and remembering the event in a ritual meal. What comes next? For many the next step in understanding salvation follows along the lines of study and analysis; we get out our concordances and lexicons and sharpen our pencils. But not here: here the God of salvation is worshiped. Story and ritual are now taken up into an act of worship that makes every Israelite a participant in salvation. Not a single Israelite, not even Moses, did one, solitary thing to bring about salvation. There is nothing to sing about on that front. So if neither Moses nor the Israelites are the subject and if human experience is not the subject, that leaves God as the subject: 'I will sing to the Lord . . . .' ."

Eugene Peterson

Walk in the Light

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

THE REALITY OF DEMONS

Luke 11:24, 26
When the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and not finding any, it says, "I will return to my house from which I came." Then it goes and takes along seven other spirits more evil than itself

The Bible does not attempt to prove the existence of demons any more than it attempts to prove the existence of God. It simply reports on their activities as if its first readers accepted their existence. Nor did the early church fathers have a problem with the reality and personality of demons. Origen wrote: "In regard to the devil and his angels and opposing powers, the ecclesiastical teaching maintains that the beings do indeed exist; but what they are or how they exist is not explained with sufficient clarity. This opinion, however, is held by most: that the devil was an angel; and having apostatized, he persuaded as many angels as possible to fall away with himself; and these, even to the present time, are called his angels."

Luke 11:24-26 gives us a helpful view into the personality and individuality of evil spirits. We can glean several points of information about evil spirits from this passage. Demons can exist outside or inside humans. They are able to travel. They are able to communicate. Each one has a separate identity. They are able to remember and make plans. They are able to evaluate and make decisions. They are able to combine forces. They vary in degrees of wickedness.

But you need not fear Satan and his demons as long as you cling to God's truth. Their only weapon is deception. Irenaeus wrote, "The devil . . . can only go to this length, as he did at the beginning, to deceive and lead astray the mind of man into disobeying the commandments of God, and gradually to darken the hearts." If you continue to walk in the light, you don't need to be afraid of the darkness.

Prayer:

Lord, I accept the reality of the spiritual world and Your rule over it. I will walk in the light and not fear the darkness.

Monday, September 22, 2008

Displaced

We had an incredible presentation last night from Invisible Children.

Sing and Shout Our Praises

Christ arrives right on time to make this happen. He didn't, and doesn't, wait for us to get ready. He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready. And even if we hadn't been so weak, we wouldn't have known what to do anyway. We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice. But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him.

Now that we are set right with God by means of this sacrificial death, the consummate blood sacrifice, there is no longer a question of being at odds with God in any way. If, when we were at our worst, we were put on friendly terms with God by the sacrificial death of his Son, now that we're at our best, just think of how our lives will expand and deepen by means of his resurrection life! Now that we have actually received this amazing friendship with God, we are no longer content to simply say it in plodding prose. We sing and shout our praises to God through Jesus, the Messiah!

Romans 5: 6-11 (The Message)

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Buildings

Excerpts from What the Unchurched See in a Building | Our of Ur

Does "sacred" space appeal to or repel the unchurched? A recent survey probed 1,700 unchurched American adults, putting photos of four different church exteriors in front of them. Respondents indicated their preferences by allocating 100 points across the four images, based on the appeal of the appearance.

The Gothic look averaged 48 points, more than double the next-highest finisher, a white-steeple-and-pillar exterior that averaged about 19 points. The other two churches, with more contemporary looks, averaged 18 points and 16 points, according to the study, commissioned by Cornerstone Knowledge Network and conducted by LifeWay Research.


So should churches opt for the cathedral look as a way to attract the unchurched?

...

And one style that works for one church doesn't necessarily work for the next. Younger respondents in the study, for instance, rated exterior design as a higher priority, while older participants tended to prize a building's usefulness.

"The style is not as important as the integrity of the design," Couchenour says. Integrity starts with the church realizing what God has called it to be, what ministry needs it can meet, and how a building can help meet those needs. "People—churched or unchurched—can tell if it has integrity, if it feels right."

Salvation

"Any approach to salvation that does not eventually become worship, and the sooner the better, distorts and reduces salvation to a concept or a program or a technique that we can master and therefore control. But, of course, if we can do it or at least manage it, it is no longer salvation."

Eugene Peterson

Identity in Christ

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

YOUR CHILD'S SELF-PERCEPTION

Proverbs 22:6
Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it

Your primary responsibility as a parent is to lead your child to Christ and help him establish his identity in Christ. When a child comes into the world, he is completely dependent on his earthly parents to feed him, change his dirty diapers and provide shelter. Childhood and adolescence is the process of moving from total dependence as a child to total independence as an adult. In the process of finding out who they are as individuals, children gradually move away from many of the people, thoughts, and ideas they have experienced through their parents and move toward the people, thoughts, and ideas which they have made their own.

A child is capable of understanding God's love and protection and receiving Jesus Christ as Savior at a very early age. But understanding his spiritual identity is a process that takes place over the years of his childhood. It is the process of shifting his dependence from parents to God.

Children wrestle with identity around age 12. Researchers of cognitive development say that most 12-year-olds can think as adults. They are capable of abstract thinking and understanding symbolism. This is significant when you remember that Jesus appeared out of obscurity at age 12. Furthermore, the Jewish bar mitzvah has been celebrated for centuries when a boy turns 12, the age at which Jews believe that a boy becomes a man. Many churches have confirmation for children at or near the age of 12.

I believe age 12 is the approximate time in a child's life when we should help him establish his spiritual identity. Evangelicals have tended to minimize junior high ministry and focus on high school. High school is too late for some kids to be challenged with their spiritual identity. Don't make that mistake with your children. You must begin early helping them understand who they are as children of God and what their identity means to them spiritually. Seeing themselves as God sees them is the most important perception your children will ever have. If your kids don't find their identity in Christ, they will find it in the world.

Prayer:

Help me guide my children into a relationship with You, dear Father, so they may establish their identity in Christ.


Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Inspiring

Christian Working Woman Transcript

Wednesday, September 17, 2008 - THINK

Have you inspired anyone lately? You may not think about it in those terms, but each day we have opportunities to inspire people. To inspire them to be kind, to inspire them to be encouraged–and on and on. And usually that inspiration comes through the words we speak.

I’m looking at how to think before we speak, so that when we speak, we say the right things in the right way. The Bible has lots to say about guarding our words carefully.

We’re looking at an acrostic of the word think, which can help us determine whether we should say what we’re just getting ready to say. T means true, make sure it’s true. H means helpful, make sure it will benefit those who listen.

I
stands for inspiring.

Will your words inspire the person who hears them in some way, even if it’s very small? If not, maybe you don’t need to say them.

Now I need to make it clear that I’m talking about inspiring someone for good purposes, because it’s possible to inspire someone to do something wrong. But how wonderful it is when someone speaks inspiring words to us. Just recently, on a day when I particularly needed some encouragement, out of the clear blue a friend simply said something to me that inspired me. It gave me the encouragement I needed at that moment to keep on keepin’ on, as we say.

I often try to remember to say anything nice that I think, whether it’s a compliment on someone’s outfit, or a word of appreciation for their help. If you’re thinking something nice about someone, then why not express it in words and then you speak words of inspiration. So, if we think before we speak, we will not only be careful not to say things we should not say, but it will remind us to say those inspiring things that we often think but don’t say.

Remember, your words have power; use that power wisely to inspire others. They will come back to you in a wonderful way.

T.H.I.N.K.
before your speak! Are you words…True, Helpful, Inspiring, Necessary, Kind?

Concept created by Carol Schweig: thinkbracelets@yahoo.com.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Helpful?

Christian Working Woman Transcript

Tuesday, September 16, 2008 - THINK


The Bible says that the tongue has the power of life and death. When we speak before we think, we often use our tongue as a death weapon. I want to encourage you to think before you speak.

This acrostic for Think will help you think before you speak. Yesterday we saw that T stands for true. Speak only what you know to be true.

H
is helpful.

Are the words you’re just getting ready to say going to help anyone? If not, don’t say them.

Ephesians 4:29 is one of the most powerful verses in the Bible, in my opinion, and if we practiced it, we definitely would think before we speak. It says, Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

Some years ago I began praying this verse into my life, and I encourage you to do the same. Then I noticed that when I would start to say something, I would often hear that inaudible voice of God’s Spirit saying, “Is this going to help anyone else; will it benefit those who listen?” That has caused me to stop in the middle of lots of sentences, as I realized that I didn’t need to say what I was planning to say because it wasn’t helpful to anyone else.

Can you even imagine the wonderful changes that would take place on our jobs, in our churches, and in our homes if we determined not to speak any words that were unwholesome, that did not benefit others? That would eliminate griping and complaining; it would keep us from nagging people; it would cause us to stop passing on gossip. My goodness, it would make a difference in the way we live.

So think about what you’re going to say before you say it. It’s so much easier to swallow those unhelpful words than it is to try to recover from them once they are said. If it’s not helpful, just don’t say it.


T.H.I.N.K. before your speak! Are you words…True, Helpful, Inspiring, Necessary, Kind?
Concept created by Carol Schweig: thinkbracelets@yahoo.com.

Choose the Higher Life

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

THE VIEW FROM THE CROSS

Matthew 16:25, 26
Whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake shall find it. For what will a man be profited, if he gains the whole world, and forfeits his soul?

Three guidelines from these verses summarize the view from the cross, which we must adopt to counteract the self-centered worldview promoted by the god of this world.

First, we must sacrifice the lower life to gain the higher life. If you want to save your natural life (i.e., find your identity and sense of self-worth in positions, titles, accomplishments and possessions and seek only worldly well-being), you will lose it. At best you can only possess these temporal values for a lifetime, only to lose everything for eternity.

Furthermore, in all your efforts to possess these earthly treasures, you will fail to gain all that can be yours in Christ. Shoot for this world and that's all you'll get, and eventually you will lose even that. But shoot for the next world and God will throw in the benefits of knowing Him in this present life as well. Paul put it this way: "Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come" (1 Timothy 4:7, 8).

Second, sacrifice the pleasure of things to gain the pleasure of life. What would you accept in trade for the fruit of the Spirit in your life? What material possession, what amount of money, what position or title would you exchange for the love, joy, peace and patience that you enjoy in Christ? "Nothing," we all probably agree. Victory over self comes as we learn to love people and use things instead of using people and loving things.

Third, sacrifice the temporal to gain the eternal. Possibly the greatest sign of spiritual maturity is the ability to postpone rewards. It is far better to know that we are the children of God than to gain anything that the world calls valuable. Even if following Christ results in hardships in this life, He will make it right in eternity.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, You alone are God. Help me to choose the higher life today instead of seeking the pleasures of this world.

Emerging Church

A few excerpts from The Emerging Church: 5 Years Later -- The definition has changed by Dan Kimball

I am going to write a couple of posts on the book "The Emerging Church" and what has changed from my perspective since the 5 years it came out. Each post will address something I have learned or has changed or has stayed the same and has been further affirmed.

...

The term "emerging church" isn't new, it was used for a book called "The Emerging Church" in 1970 by Bruce Larson and Ralph Osborne. I have read that book and it was mainly about change needed in the church for the advancement of the gospel in the "emerging" world of 1970. When I wrote the book of the same name in 2003, that was pretty much the same thing but 33 years later. There will always be change needed in the church for the mission we are on as different time periods of history emerge and cultures change and develop. Perhaps in 33 more years the term will resurface again and someone who is 5 years old right now will write a book caled "The Emerging Church" about what is "emerging" and changing in the mission of the church in the year 2042.

...

As I think of the future, I want to focus on the reason I got into the whole emerging church world. It was about evangelism - as in seeing "lost" people (using that word in a healthy way) come to a saving knowledge of Jesus, repenting, experiencing grace and receiving new life by the Spirit and joining in on the mission. Things needed to be "deconstructed" in the church, so there was deconstruction for the sale of evangelism and mission.

My entry into the emerging church world was because of the reality of the increasing amount of people who aren't Christians and weren't experiencing the joy of salvation and knowing Jesus in this life and the reality of eternal heaven and eternal hell in the life-to-come is a reality. I fully know the Kingdom of God is here and now and Jesus' teaching was more focused on how we live life now, not the here-after. But at the same time, hell still exists and if you want to know more about what I think about hell I wrote about it here). This urgency about the Kingdom here and now and about heaven and hell to come (I am fully aware and in alignmnet with N.T. Wright on how we have incorrectly talked about the after-life). But never-the-less, this is exactly what fueled the passion of why Josh Fox, myself and a core team planted Vintage Faith Church in 2004. People who don't know Jesus or experienced the gospel yet. Underneath all the emerging church discussion for me, was evangelism and Jesus' words from Matthew 28:18-20 and Acts 1:8.

But...back to what has changed since the 5 or 6 years since The Emerging Church was written.

If you were to have asked me about what the core of the emerging church is, I would have responded with "evangelism and mission in our emerging culture to emerging generations". And from that, other things were of course included, alternative worship, discussions on ecclesiolgy etc. as a means for fruitful evangelism. But evangelism for me was underneath it all. Today, I certainly sense if you asked someone what is "the emerging church" it would mean a whole lot of of different things than that. In fact, I don't even think the word "evangelism" comes up when I start hearing about "the emerging church" for the most part anymore. It means so many different things theologically today. I will talk about theology in a later post, but over the 10 years the emerging church world has also become so theologically diverse that it has become understandably confusing. I can't defend or even explain theologically what is now known broadly as "the emerging church" anymore, because it has developed into so many significantly different theological strands. Some I strongly would disagree with (as I assume they would strongly disagree with me). So that has changed as well from my perspective.

So.... the first thing that has changed in the 5 years since the book The Emerging Church came out is that in my opinion, the definition has changed. I am not wedded to any term and I don't think most people are. I, like most others, are wedded to the gospel and to Jesus' command of making new disciples - not a term to describe it. I have gone through the disiullusionment stage about church, and been hurt by the church and the whole deconstruction phase and questioning phase.

So I understand that very deeply. But the urgency of eternity here and the here-after and the people who are not yet Christians who need to hear about experience in this life the saving gospel of Jesus is what enabled me to rise me out of that. I want to focus time, prayer and energy on healthy evangelism and new disciples of Jesus being made who weren't Christians before in our new cultures and new generations. That may involve all varieties of conversations including anything from music and art to justice to leadership to all types of thing. But underneath it is evangelism and the words of Jesus in Matthew 28:18-20 and Acts 1:8 and mission driving it all. So in moving ahead, I don't think using the term "emerging church" as it is generally defined today, describes this like it used to.

I am using "missional" more these days, although that term has different meanings too and knowing human tendencies that will prpbably go through definition changes. (For a good web site about what "missional" is, go here) Defintions come and go. The mission of Jesus doesn't. The urgency of the gospel doesn't (until Jesus returns).

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Monday, September 15, 2008

Praying

Colossians 1: 9-12 (The Message)

Be assured that from the first day we heard of you, we haven't stopped praying for you, asking God to give you wise minds and spirits attuned to his will, and so acquire a thorough understanding of the ways in which God works. We pray that you'll live well for the Master, making him proud of you as you work hard in his orchard. As you learn more and more how God works, you will learn how to do your work. We pray that you'll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul—not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength God gives. It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy, thanking the Father who makes us strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful that he has for us.

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A good prayer for you to pray for our body of believers.

THINK

Christian Working Woman Transcript

Monday, September 15, 2008 - THINK

Years ago my professional career began with IBM, and they had a motto then which was conspicuously displayed all around the offices. It was one simple word: Think. Just “Think.”

I remember wondering why they would choose such a motto for the company. Doesn’t everybody think? I thought. Now I understand the importance of that simple one-word motto, because often we just don’t think enough. For example, how frequently are we engaging our mouths, saying things without thinking? And that usually ends up causing all kinds of trouble.

Recently a friend told me that her teenage daughter and she had agreed to each wear a bracelet that says “Think”, as a way to remind them to think before they speak. Well, I got to thinking about that, and decided that was a good idea.

Psalm 141:3 says, Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips.

I want to give you an acrostic of the word think, to help you determine whether you should say what you are starting to say or not. We start with:

T
– True
Is it true? Do you know for certain that what you are just about to say is true? If not, don’t say it.

If we think before we speak and determine that we’re not sure what we’re about to say is true, this will eliminate most gossip. Gossip is usually something we’ve heard but don’t really know for sure, but we freely pass it on. After all, it’s juicy and we just want to tell somebody that juicy tidbit. But if we start to think before we speak, and ask ourselves, “Is this true?”, we’ll go a long way to eliminating gossipy talk–and that’s a very good thing.

Also, it will keep us from imagining bad things that could happen, like “They’ll probably lay off a lot of us,” or “I think he is going to divorce her.” You don’t know those imagined bad things to be true, so don’t say them to yourself or anyone else.

Dependent

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

FOLLOWING HIM

Matthew 16:24
If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him . . . follow Me

Seeking to overcome self by self-effort is a hopeless struggle. Self will never cast out self, because an independent self motivated by the flesh still wants to be God. We must follow Christ by being led by the Holy Spirit down the path of death to self-rule. As Paul wrote: "We who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh" (2 Corinthians 4:11).

This may sound like a dismal path to walk, but I assure you that it is not. It is a tremendous experience to be known by the Shepherd and to follow Him as obedient, dependent sheep (John 10:27). The fact that we are led by the Spirit of God, even when it results in the death to self-rule, is our assurance of sonship (Romans 8;14). We were not designed to function independently of God. Only when we are dependent on Him and intent on following Christ are we complete and free to prove that the will of God is good, acceptable and perfect (Romans 12:2).

Self-rule is motivated by self-interest and supported only by self-centered resources. When we come to the end of our resources, we discover God's resources. God will let us do our thing and patiently wait until self-interest and self-rule leave us spiritually and emotionally bankrupt. We can turn to God any time we weary of trying to run our own lives independently of Him. He doesn't force Himself on us; He just simply says, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him . . . follow Me." Are you willing to forsake self-rule and follow Him?

Prayer:

Loving Shepherd, I desire Your will for my life, and I purpose today to follow You in obedience and dependence.

Friday, September 12, 2008

God's Work

"You would think that believing that Jesus is God among us would be the hardest thing. It is not. It turns out that the hardest thing is to believe that God's work -- this dazzling creation, this astonishing salvation, this cascade of blessings -- is all being worked out in and under the conditions of our humanity: at picnics and around dinner tables, in conversations and while walking along roads, in puzzled questions and homely stories, with blind beggars and suppurating lepers, at weddings and funerals. Everything that Jesus does and says takes place within the limits and conditions of our humanity. No fireworks. No special effects. Yes, there are miracles, plenty of them. But because for the most part they are so much a part of the fabric of everyday life, very few notice. The miraculousness of miracle is obscured by the familiarity of the setting, the ordinariness of the people involved."

Eugene Peterson, Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places

Like God

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

ONLY GOD IS GOD

Genesis 3:4, 5
The serpent said . . . "you will be like God, knowing good and evil"

Adam was the first to be tempted by the notion that he could "be like God" (Genesis 3:5), which is the essence of the self-centered worldview that Satan promotes. Millions have been seduced by Satan into believing that they are God. The New Age Movement is promoting this lie on a grand and international scale.

However, the biblical account of creation clearly establishes that only God the Creator is truly God. Adam and his ancestors are not gods; we are created beings which cannot exist apart from God. The diabolical idea that man is his own god is the primary link in the chain of spiritual bondage to the kingdom of darkness.

The problem with man's attempt at being his own god is that he was never designed to occupy that role. He lacks the necessary attributes to determine his own destiny. Even sinless, spiritually alive Adam in the Garden of Eden before the Fall wasn't equipped to be his own god. Contrary to what the New Agers tell us, the potential to be a god never was in you, isn't in you now, and never will be in you. Being God is God's capacity alone.

If you desire to live in freedom from the bondage of the world, the flesh and the devil, this primary link in the chain must be renounced. The self-centered worldview which Satan and his emissaries are promoting must be replaced by the perspective that Jesus introduced to His disciples in the wake of Peter's self-preserving rebuke in Matthew 16: "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake shall find it" (verses 24, 25). In the next several days, we will examine the view from the cross.

Prayer:

Father, forgive me for the occasions when I have usurped Your place in my life. You are my Lord and my God.

Cart and Horse

"It's not an issue of whether or not we should engage moral evil and politics, but is it our primary job? It's not the main job of the church to be running the government or to influence legislation. The main job is to live out the kingdom. I feel like some Christians put the political cart before the kingdom horse. Christians in America differ very, very little from the broader American culture. We're almost indistinguishable. I'm focused on getting my congregation to live out radical kingdom principles 24/7. If we get that done, I think we'll have a lot of clarity about how to engage the culture, including politics."

Gregory Boyd | Out of Ur

Thursday, September 11, 2008

In Esssentials Unity

Excerpts from A City Upon "The Hill" | Leadership Journal | An Interview with Mark Batterson

...

The Church seems to be playing a larger role in politics today. Did politics play a role when you started NCC?

We live in a culture where Christianity has been affiliated with one party or the other at different times. The pendulum swings, but recently it would be fair to say that in most quarters of our country it's swung more to the Republican side of the spectrum. But after moving to Washington, I started meeting God-fearing, Christ-loving people who are on both sides of the aisle. They were all very different politically, and I had to find a way to fit with all of them.

Part of my driving desire as a pastor is to remove every obstacle except the cross that would keep people from coming to faith in Christ. That means we don't want to affiliate with a party. We don't want to affiliate with a candidate. But we also don't want to avoid important spiritual issues simply because some people consider them political.

Homosexuality is a good example. It's a huge political issue, but it's also a spiritual issue. So I'm certainly not afraid to talk about it. I'd rather be biblically correct than politically correct. But there is a way to do it without igniting a political debate. That's why I try to focus on the positive message rather than the negative. That means celebrating sex as a gift from God intended for a husband and wife in the context of marriage.

...

So people are really finding their unity in Christ rather than politics.

Right. And that's a biblical thing. Galatians 3:28: "There's neither slave nor free, Jew nor Greek, male nor female." What about Republican and Democrat? There's something about the church that unites people in a way nothing else can. The church is a place where we ought to celebrate diversity as a reflection of the kaleidoscopic personality of God. Too often it's not, but when it is it's a beautiful thing because it unites people that would otherwise be divided. And so I think there is something refreshing for people when they realize they can leave their political affiliation at the door.

That is what motivated us to be apolitical when we started NCC. I saw too many churches using the pulpit as a political platform to talk about public policy issues. I felt like our people eat and breathe politics five days a week. They didn't need more in church. They needed to focus on the spiritual dimension that will inform their political positions. So we try to focus on their relationship with Christ and trust that out of that they'll be formed and revitalized to do their political work during the week.

When someone new arrives at National Community Church, how do you encourage them to leave their politics at the door?

Loud silence. In a city that's always talking about politics, it's noticeable when we don't talk about it. We want church to be a safe place to hear a dangerous message, and it's not a political message. It's the message of the cross. We're very intentional about avoiding political stuff or anything that will distract from our core message. So, we're screening our bulletin, we're analyzing what we say up front. We keep it pretty simple. And I think that's what's really protected us from being distracted by the politics around us.

You want to focus on the gospel and avoid politics, but is that possible when the gospel has political implications?

I agree, the gospel does have political implications, but what was Jesus' intent? Was his intent for his followers to pass government laws and policies to create programs like welfare, education, and healthcare? Or was his intent for the church to take ownership of these issues and care for people? The early church didn't focus on getting Rome to pass laws to alleviate problems. They saw the church as the solution to the world's brokenness. Sometimes I feel like our focus on politics is a copout. We need to focus on how the church can be the solution to the problems around us and not just look to the government to solve everything. Government has an important role, but I think it's gotten out of proportion for many Christians.

...

How are the young people at NCC motivated to live out their faith beyond the political realm?

The twenty-somethings are incredibly energized by social justice issues. I think the social implications of the gospel have been so deemphasized and neglected that the church is now, in a healthy way, swinging back. Of course some people will swing back into a social gospel that is all social and no gospel. But we should be motivated to care for the poor and reach out to them the way Christ has commanded us.

Last year we hosted a "Week of Justice" where we invited different people each night to discuss different topics—everything from AIDS, to poverty, the environment, and human trafficking. These are the ideas that energize our younger congregation.

Are you finding Democrats and Republicans in the church united around these causes?

No, there's not absolute unity. They don't see eye to eye on every issue. But we really emphasize Rupertus Meldenius' statement: in essentials unity; in nonessentials liberty; in all things charity. That needs to frame the way we think and the way we treat each other. We're all going to have nonessentials that we disagree on, so we need to agree to disagree. There are too many churches focusing entirely on peripheral issues. They become one issue churches. I don't want that to happen to NCC. I want us to always make it about the person of Jesus.


Understanding

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH

John 16:13
When He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth

It's not hard to know the truth if You are the truth, and speaking with authority would come quite naturally if you're God! Discernment is also easier if you know, as Jesus does, what's in the hearts of men (John 2:24, 25). Though we don't possess those attributes, we do have the Holy Spirit. If we are going to continue the work of Jesus, we must yield to the Holy Spirit and allow Him to control and guide us. Then we can know the truth, speak with authority, and discern good and evil.

We have as our guide the Spirit of truth. When Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit, He said, "When He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth . . . He will disclose to you what is to come. He shall glorify Me; for He shall take of Mine, and shall disclose it to you" (John 16:13, 14). This promise has primary reference to the apostles, but its application extends to all Spirit-filled believers (1 John 2:20-27). The Holy Spirit is first and foremost the Spirit of truth, and He will lead us into all truth.

When Jesus prayed, He requested, "I do not ask Thee to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. Sanctify them in the truth; Thy word is truth" (John 17:15, 17). Truth is what keeps us from the evil one. John wrote, "The whole world lies in the power of the evil one" (1 John 5:19), because Satan "deceives the whole world" (Revelation 12:9). The only way to overcome the father of lies is by revelation, not research or reasoning. Many in higher education lean on their own understanding and believe only in what can be validated by research. Truth is God's will made known through His Word. The Holy Spirit's role is to enable us to understand the Word of God from God's perspective. Jesus says, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32).

Prayer:

Father, forgive me for leaning on my own understanding. Fill me with Your Spirit and lead me into all truth today.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Glory of God

40Jesus looked her in the eye. "Didn't I tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?"

41-42Then, to the others, "Go ahead, take away the stone."

They removed the stone. Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and prayed, "Father, I'm grateful that you have listened to me. I know you always do listen, but on account of this crowd standing here I've spoken so that they might believe that you sent me."

43-44Then he shouted, "Lazarus, come out!" And he came out, a cadaver, wrapped from head to toe, and with a kerchief over his face.

Jesus told them, "Unwrap him and let him loose."

John 11 (The Message)


Relational Atmosphere

Excerpts from The Mind of Christ: Looking Out for the Interests of Others by John Piper

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So I return today to this issue of the relational culture of our church—a kind of relational atmosphere where God may be pleased to give us wisdom for our personal priorities and our families and our citizenship in ways that are God-glorifying, Christ-exalting, gospel-fashioned, people-helping.

I invite you to turn with me to Paul’s letter to the Philippians, chapter 2. ...

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Looking Out for Others’ Interests

Look at verse 4: “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” The word interests is a filler. In the original, it’s open-ended. All that is specified is “your own (something)” or “the other’s (something).” So it could be, “Let each of you look not only to your own financial affairs, or your own property, or your own family, or your own health, or your own reputation, or your own education, or your own success, or your own happiness—don’t just think about that, don’t just have desires about that, don’t just strategize about that, don’t just work toward that; but look to the financial affairs and property and family and health, and reputation, and education, and success, and happiness of others.”

In other words, verse 4 is a way of saying the words of Jesus, “Love your neighbor as you love yourself” (Matthew 22:39). That is, make the good of others the focus of your interest and strategy and work. Find your joy in making others joyful. If you are watching television and your child says, Would you play with me? don’t just think about how tired you are. By an act of gospel-fashioned, Christ-exalting will, put the child’s interests before the pleasures of your relaxation.

Counting Others as More Significant

One of the keys to this radical way of living is in the second half of verse 3: “Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves” (Philippians 2:3). Or as the old King James says, “Let each esteem others better than themselves.” I remember when I was in the ninth grade thinking this was impossible. My sister could read, it seemed, ten times faster than I could. I was simply amazed that she could read an entire Bobbsey Twins novel in one night—about 150 pages. There is no way, I thought, that she could esteem me better than her in reading. But I got A’s in Algebra, and my sister struggled. So there was no way I could esteem her better than I in Algebra.

But I missed the point. The point was not what others are. The point is what you count others to be. And the focus in not on how they read or do math, or any other skill or trait. The focus is: Will you count them as worthy of your help and encouragement? Not are they worthy? But will you count them as worthy? Will I serve my sister? Will I take thought not just for my interests but for hers? Will I encourage her and take the time to help her and build her up. Will I stop shooting buckets in the driveway and show interest in her?

Humility and Its Source—The Cross

And where does that other-oriented commitment come from? Verse 3 says, “In humility count others more significant than yourselves.” It comes from humility. Literally: “lowliness.” This is the great opposite of a sense of entitlement. Humility is the opposite of “You owe me.” Paul said, “I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish” (Romans 1:14). In other words, they didn’t owe him. He owed them.

Why? Why do Christians walk through life feeling a humble sense that we owe service to people, rather than them owing us? The answer is that Christ loved us and died for us and forgave us and accepted us and justified us and gave us eternal life and made us heirs of the world when he owed us nothing. He treated us as worthy of his service, when we were not worthy of his service. He took thought not only for his own interests but for ours. He counted us as greater than himself: “Who is the greater,” he said, “one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves” (Luke 22:27).

That is where our humility comes from. We feel overwhelmed by God’s grace: bygone grace in the cross and moment-by-moment arriving grace promised for our everlasting future. Christians are stunned into lowliness. Freely you have been served, freely serve.

So the crucial relational mark of the culture of our church should be Philippians 2:4: “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” This is the “mind” or the “mindset” that we should have in life together. This is the relational atmosphere where God will grant wisdom for the perplexing work of living in this world.

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Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Trials

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

PERSEVERING TRIBULATIONS

James 1:2, 3
Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance

There certainly are a lot of distractions, diversions, disappointments, trials, temptations and traumas which come along to disrupt the process of becoming the person God wants you to be. Every day you struggle against the world, the flesh and the devil, each of which are opposed to your success at being God's person.

But Paul reminds us that the tribulations we face are actually a means of achieving our supreme goal of maturity: "We also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us" (Romans 5:3-5). James offers similar encouragement: "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing" (James 1:2-4).

Maybe you thought your goal as a Christian was to escape tribulations. But God's goal for you is maturity in Christ, becoming the person He designed you to be. And tribulation just happens to be one of the primary stepping-stones on the pathway. That's why Paul says we exult--meaning to express heightened joy--in our tribulations. Why? Because persevering tribulations is the doorway to proven character, which is God's goal for us.

Our hope lies in proven character, not in favorable circumstances nor in the manipulation of others. Neither circumstances nor people can keep you from being what God wants you to be. Trials and tribulations are the most common means for bringing about His goal for your life.

Prayer:

Lord, help me see my trials as stepping-stones, not obstacles. Give me grace to persevere and develop proven character.

Praying

The Christian Working Woman Transcript

Tuesday, September 09, 2008 - Praying for the Election


I want to encourage us all to begin a forty-day prayer vigil for our upcoming election here in the U.S., beginning September 26. In fact, I have a 40-day prayer guide to send you to help you do that, if you will make that commitment.
In this guide is a prayer by our first president, George Washington, and it is amazing to read his prayer. Let me quote parts of it for you:
“O eternal and everlasting God,...increase my faith in the sweet promises of the gospel. . . teach me how to live in thy fear, labor in thy service, and ever to run in the ways of thy commandments. Make me always watchful over my heart, that neither the terrors of conscience, the loathing of holy duties, the love of sin, nor an unwillingness to depart this life, may cast me into a spiritual slumber, but daily frame me more and more into the likeness of thy son, Jesus Christ...”

Did you have any idea that our first President had this kind of faith and trust in God? But in reading this prayer, I am again reminded of how far we have strayed from the faith of our founding fathers and how quickly we are moving toward a secular society. My friends, we desperately need some people in our government who have this kind of commitment to God and are willing to take a stand against evil and for integrity and morality in our country.

This is a battle won on our knees, not in the press, not in demonstrations or political maneuverings. Psalm 75:7 says:
It is God who judges; he brings one down, he exalts another.

We may think that we the people hold the future of our country in our hands, but our God is sovereign. That means he is totally in control, and therefore, he will bring some candidates down and he will exalt others. And it’s not always the candidate that we vote for! But God is still sovereign.

Let us pray for his will to be done in this election, and for us, as God’s people, to remain steadfast to the truths of Scripture.

Monday, September 08, 2008

Christian Assemblies

Excerpts from Is church for evangelism? by Tony Payne

Apologies for posing what, at first glance, may seem an obvious and even silly question, but it's one I've pondering lately: is evangelism a key purpose of Christian assemblies (or ‘churches’)?

...

However, even if we acknowledge that there will be ‘gospel’ things happening all over the place in church, it is also important to say that evangelism is not the purpose of Christian assemblies. It is certainly not their focus. In the New Testament, churches are characteristically the fruit of evangelism, not its agent. Evangelism usually takes place outside the assembly—in the marketplace, the synagogue, the prison, and in daily gospel conversation.

More to the point, theologically, the Christian assembly is a fellowship of the redeemed. It is a manifestation, as well as an anticipation or foretaste, of the great assembly that Christ is building—the assembly of the firstborn in heaven that will be revealed on the last Day (Heb 12:22-24). The purpose of our earthly assemblies, therefore, is to fellowship together in what we already share—our union with Christ—as we listen to and respond to him together, and build his assembly by the words we speak.

This runs counter to the common (although often unspoken) assumption that one of the main aims of a church gathering is to be attractive to non-Christians—to draw them in, to intrigue them, and to evangelize them. Perhaps it's a legacy of the parish model, where those attending the Sunday assembly were often not Christians at all, and evangelism consisted of preaching the gospel to them. Or perhaps it is the influence of the seeker-service model, where the main aim is to attract and win over unchurched Harry. Or maybe it's a bit of both.

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Emotions

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

ACKNOWLEDGING YOUR EMOTIONS

Psalm 109:26, 30
Help me, O LORD my God. . . . With my mouth I will give thanks abundantly to the LORD

Nancy was a college student with an inability to express the anger and resentment she felt. "My roommate gets to the point sometimes where she just explodes emotionally to let off steam. I have deep feelings too, but I'm not sure that a Christian is supposed to let off steam."

I opened my Bible to Psalm 109:1-13 and read David's angry words against an enemy. "What's that doing in the Bible?" Nancy gasped. "How could David pray all those evil things about his enemy? That's pure hatred."

"David's words didn't surprise God," I answered. "God already knew what he was thinking and feeling. David was simply expressing his pain and anger honestly to his God."

I encouraged Nancy that when she is able to dump her hurt and hatred before God she probably won't dump it on her roommate in a destructive way. I also reminded her that David was as honest about his need for God as he was about expressing his feelings. He closed the psalm by praying: "Help me, O LORD my God. . . . With my mouth I will give thanks abundantly to the LORD" (verses 26, 30).

I think the way David acknowledged his feelings is healthy. If you come to your prayer time feeling angry, depressed or frustrated, and then mouth a bunch of pious platitudes as if God doesn't know how you feel, do you think He is pleased? Not unless He's changed His opinion about hypocrisy. In God's eyes, if you're not real, you're not right.

Acknowledging your emotions also involves being real in front of a few trusted friends. During his travels, Paul had Barnabas, Silas or Timothy to lean on. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus expressed His grief to His inner circle of Peter, James and John. If you have two or three people like this in your life, you are truly blessed.

Prayer:

Thank You, Lord, that I can be real and honest with You. Help me develop a few trusted friends who will also welcome my emotional honesty.

Complementarian

Excerpts from Complementarian Viewpoint and Sarah Palin post by Dan Kimball

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It is dawning on me however, as I have been reading some blogs and hearing which Christian leaders are excited about her - many of them are from conservative complementarian churches. Which means as they are enthusiastic about her becoming vice president and making incredibly important decisions for our country for both men and women and make speeches and lead - she couldn't teach in most of their pulpits, or be an elder or pastor in their church and make decisions and lead both men and women in a church setting.

...

I'd love to hear how those with a complementarians sort this out or if others have thought about this. I understand that some complementarian churches do allow a female to preach on occasion (under the authority of the males elders) and some will call a female a pastor, generally if it is females they are pastoring. I assume the complementarian response is that the sphere of leading as a pastor or elder in a local church is different than the sphere of leading the entire country. But it is an interesting thing to ponder if you simply lay that out and think about its functional reality. I would love to hear how responses will go, as I cannot imagine this won't be coming up in discussions. Any thoughts on this or am I stretching things too much here in trying to even compare the two spheres of leadership as the same or are they?

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This post has generated a huge response on Dan's blog. You might want to go to the link to read comments.

Friday, September 05, 2008

Keep Learning

Excerpt from Imitation Is Suicide by Mark Batterson

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I think there is a such a temptation to copy when it comes to ministry. I wrestle with it as much as anyone else. I think we need models. I've got my fair share, including Erwin McManus. But I remember reading something Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote in Self-Reliance: "There is a time in every man's education that he arrives at the conviction that imitation is suicide. He must take himself for better or for worse."

I think there are two simple principles that ought to guide us:

1) Keep Learning.
2) Be Yourself.

At some point, most of us stop learning and start copying. It's so much easier. We stop living out of right-brain imagination and start living out of left-brain memory. And that is when we stop creating the future and start repeating the past.

Just a simple reminder. There never has been and never will be anyone like you. And that isn't a testament to you. It's a testament to the God who created you.

Light, Salvation, Stronghold

Psalm 27: 1, 14

1The LORD is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?

...


14 Wait for the LORD;
be strong, and let your heart take courage;
wait for the LORD!


Thursday, September 04, 2008

Faith

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

LIFE ON THE CUTTING EDGE

Hebrews 11:33, 34
. . . Who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong

Is faith a risk? Of course. But failing to step out in faith is to risk missing real life. I have been challenged by the following thought from an unknown author.

Risk

To laugh is to risk appearing the fool.

To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.

To reach out for another is to risk involvement.

To place our ideas, our dreams, before a crowd is to risk their loss.

To love is to risk not being loved in return.

To live is to risk dying.

To hope is to risk despair.

To try is to risk failure.

Risks must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing. The person who risks nothing does nothing, has nothing, is nothing. He may avoid suffering and sorrow, but he simply cannot learn, feel, change, grow, love . . . live. Chained by his certitudes, he is a slave; he has forfeited freedom.

What a privilege for us to be able to walk by faith in God Himself, armed with all the promises of His Word. I suppose we all desire the security of the solid tree trunk, but the fruit is out on the limb. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. The timid soul asks, "What do I stand to lose if I do it?" The fruit-bearing Christians asks, "What do I stand to lose if I don't do it?" Real life is lived on the cutting edge.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, help me stand up for what is right, to reach out and love others, and to dare to believe.


Obedience of Faith

Excerpts from Command of God: The Obedience of Faith by John Piper

Romans 16:25-27

Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith—to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.

In this message, I want to focus on one phrase and how it functions in this doxology, and then make it the occasion of reviewing something enormously important in the book of Romans. The phrase is the obedience of faith from the end of verse 26: “. . . to bring about the obedience of faith.” If the glory of the only wise God through Jesus Christ is the ultimate goal of all things in these verses (according to verse 27), then “the obedience of faith” is next to the ultimate goal of all things in these verses. And that’s because when faith in Jesus Christ produces obedience to Jesus Christ, those obedient lives make God look glorious. That’s what Jesus said in Matthew 5:16, “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

...

So in the beginning and the ending of this letter Paul says that the gospel and his apostleship (and, by implication, our ministry and your life!) has this great aim: that Jesus Christ would be seen as glorious—magnificent—among all the peoples of the world by means of the obedience of Christians which flows from their faith in him.

And if you wonder what kind of obedience he has in mind, he left us in no doubt. Just recall some of Romans 12:

Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. . . . Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

That is what the obedience of faith looks like. That is the beauty that the nations of the world need to see—for the sake of the name.

...


How then does our own obedience—“the obedience of faith”—relate to justification? The answer is: Our obedience is not the ground or the basis of our justification. Nor is it any part of the instrument or means by which we are united to Christ who alone is the ground and the basis of our justification. Faith alone unites us to Christ and Christ alone is the ground of our justification. Our obedience is the fruit of that faith. The faith that justifies is the kind of faith that, by the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:13), changes us. If your faith in Christ leaves you unchanged, you don’t have saving faith. Obedience—not perfection, but a new direction of thought and affections and behavior—is the fruit that shows that the faith is alive. James put it this way, “So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” (James 2:17). Faith alone justifies, but the faith that justifies is never alone. It is always accompanied by “newness of life” (Romans 6:4).

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Spirituality

"The Christian community is interested in spirituality because it is interested in living. We give careful attention to spirituality because we know, from long experience, how easy it is to get interested in ideas of God and projects for God and gradually lose interest in God alive, deadening our lives with the ideas and projects. This happens a lot. Because the ideas and projects have the name of God attached to them, it is easy to assume that we are involved with God. It is the devil's work to get us worked up thinking and acting for God and then subtly detach us from a relational obedience and adoration of God, substituting our selves, our godlike egos, in the place originally occupied by God."

Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places by Eugene Peterson, p. 31.

Behold the Glory of God

Excerpt from message by C. J. Mahaney on Don't Waste Your Sports

"But any practical consideration must first proceed from a theologically informed understanding of the character of God as revealed in Scripture and the person and work of Christ. We must begin our consideration of this topic—of every topic!—with God. Until we behold the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ we cannot accurately or authentically glorify God (2 Cor. 4:6). Before we play sports for the glory of God we must behold the glory of God. … And this morning I have asked Puritan theologian John Owen to assist me:

Because he is—that is, an infinitely glorious, good, wise, holy, powerful, righteous, self-subsisting, self-sufficient, all-sufficient Being, the fountain, cause, and author of life and being to all things, and of all that is good in every kind, the first cause, last end, and absolute sovereign Lord of all, the rest and all-satisfactory reward of all other beings—therefore he is to be adored and worshipped. Hence are we in our hearts, minds, and souls, to admire, adore, and love him. His praises are we to celebrate. In him we are to trust and fear, and so to resign ourselves and all our concerns unto his will and disposal, to regard him with all the acts of our minds and persons, answerable to the holy properties and excellencies of his nature. This is to glorify him as God.

No doubt some are asking, ‘What does a 17th-century Puritan (who didn’t have game) have to say to the modern athlete? How does this relate to my soccer game or cross-country meet?’ Here’s why: When I behold the glory of God prior to playing sports, my heart is affected and transformed. This makes all the difference when I step out onto the field or court. This knowledge of God positions me to glorify Him and not myself. Our participation in sports must be informed by the knowledge of God in order to keep us from turning sports into something ugly, rather than beautiful. This knowledge of God’s glory will keep us from wasting our sports.”


Good Biblical Teaching

Excerpt from An Interview with S. M. Baugh on Ephesians

5. What is the relationship between Ephesians 1-3 and 4-6 and what practical significance does that have for Christians?
It is pretty common to divide Ephesians (and other Pauline books) into an initial “indicative” or doctrinal section (Ephesians 1-3) and a concluding “imperative” or ethical section (Ephesians 4-6). While you don’t want to make these chapters watertight compartments, there is a profound truth here that good biblical teaching will lead to deeper faith that will itself lead to holiness of life. Look at how Paul expresses this early on in Ephesians: we have been chosen to be holy and blameless (1:4) because election is to something. And notice how the focus of Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians is that they will have unshakable convictions about our hope, inheritance, and Christ’s all-conquering power and exaltation (1:18-21), because Paul knows that a deep-rooted faith will yield rich fruit of obedience to his exhortations for holy living in the latter chapters.


Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Discernment

Neil Anderson Daily in Christ

OUR FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE

Ecclesiastes 8:5, 6 NIV
The wise heart will know the proper time and procedure. For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter

I had dear friends who were being used by the Lord in full-time ministry. Some difficulty developed in their marriage so they consulted a pastor/counselor. The wife's response after the initial meeting was negative, but they continued with this particular counselor because other people they respected said he was a good man.

Over the next year, the ministry my friends were in, as well as our relationship, deteriorated. A short time later their pastor/counselor was exposed for having sex with a number of counselees. The damage he did to several women was incredible. He justified his behavior by explaining, "What we do in the flesh doesn't matter. Only what we do in the spirit counts!"

My friends were confronted with an ultimatum by their ministry group: "Choose your ministry or choose him." They chose to stay with him!

Why won't people judge righteously? "Little children, let no one deceive you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil" (1 John 3:7, 8). The authoritative, arrogant spirit of this man had some kind of hold on many since half his church stayed with him. The initial discernment of my friends was correct, but they ignored the warning of the Holy Spirit.

I believe discernment is a critical part of our walk with God. This divine enablement is our first line of defense when our ability to reason is insufficient. Jesus demonstrated spiritual discernment throughout His earthly ministry. We need to learn how to develop our ability to discern good from evil, truth from lies.

Prayer:

Dear Father, I want to have a wise and discerning spirit. Teach me to be responsive to Your leading so I can have my senses trained to discern good and evil.

God's Love

The basis is love -- the result is all for the praise of his glorious grace:

The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the LORD loves you
Deuteronomy 7: 6-8

In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
Ephesians 1: 4-6

Gospel Urgency

Excerpts from Dan Kimball : Emerging and Emergent Distinctions (at Vintage Faith)

For some it doesn't matter, for others it does.

Scot McKnight (who has an excellent, excellent and challenging book coming out soon, The Blue Parakeet) wrote in the latest edition of Christianity Today (September 2008, page 60):

"I maintain a crucial distinction between two related streams: emergent and the broader emerging movement. Emergent is crystallized in Emergent Village and its leaders Brian McLaren, Tony Jones, and Doug Pagitt. Emerging is a mix of orthodox, missional, evangelical, church-centered and social justice leaders and lay folk. When I think of this broader emerging movement, I think of Dan Kimball at Vintage Faith Church in Santa Cruz, Dave Dunbar at Biblical Seminary in Hatfield, Pennsylvania, Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch and their book The Shaping of Things To Come, and Donald Miller's Blue Like Jazz."

...

From talking to Scot, I know that we both feel that the urgency of the gospel need in our world today is far more significant and important than making distinctions about terminology like this. But I do get asked a lot about this, so as petty as words may be - it does become an issue in discussions. I thought the quote from this new article is worth attention and discussion. If anyone has any personal questions for me, I am always happy to answer them about any of this.


Monday, September 01, 2008

Holy Moments

Excerpt from Mark Batterson post Thin Places

In my message this weekend I'm talking about a concept from Wild Goose Chase. The Celtic Christians had a name for places where heaven and earth seem to touch. They called them "thin places." The burning bush was one of those "thin places" for Moses.

Now I better qualify this theologically. God is omnipresent. He is all around us all the time. He is never absent. What's absent is our awareness. But I also believe there are times and places where God reveals Himself in a unique way and we're never the same. We experience an epiphany. And those holy moments are "thin places."

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